Sasha Gollish wins Indianapolis Monumental Half, breaks course record

Canada's Sasha Gollish crosses first in women's half-marathon at @indymonumental.#BeMonumental pic.twitter.com/YwoJyTglUv

— David Woods (@DavidWoods007) November 5, 2016

Canadian Sasha Gollish won the CNO Financial Indianapolis Monumental Half-Marathon on Saturday in course record time to hugely improve her lifetime best. Gollish, a Pan Am Games bronze medallist in the 1,500m, ran 1:11:07 to win by 20 seconds.

According to Marathon Canada, Gollish’s time is the fastest half-marathon by a Canadian in 2016. The 34-year-old Toronto resident improved her lifetime best by more than a minute. She ran 1:12:36 at the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio Half-Marathon last December.

Sasha Gollish is your women's half marathon champion in a new course record! #BeMonumental ???? @oiselle

A photo posted by Beyond Monumental (@indymonumental) on Nov 5, 2016 at 6:14am PDT

“No, better,” Gollish told the Indianapolis Star when asked whether the result was what she expected.

Course record for @SGollishRuns in the women's half! @oiselle_team ??

— Beyond Monumental (@indymonumental) November 5, 2016

Gollish broke the previous course record of 1:12:39 from 2014. The Star reports that the time is the fastest run in Indianapolis, bettering a 2003 performance by Russian Albina Ivanova. For much of the summer, the Oiselle-sponsored athlete was running races on the track with hopes of qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Sasha Gollish makes course record run @indymonumental pic.twitter.com/UXKxYgqxLr

— Kelly Wilkinson (@KWilkinson3) November 5, 2016

When asked about the prospects of running a marathon by Canadian Nicole Sifuentes, Gollish replied on Twitter, “eventually, still going to play on the track for a bit.” The 2015 Canadian Interuniversity Sport Female Track and Field Athlete of the Year fist pumped as she crossed the line on Saturday. There were more than 15,000 runners in the marathon and half-marathon events in Indianapolis on Saturday, per the Star‘s report.

Rochelle Kanuho of Flagstaff, Ariz. finished second in 1:11:28.

Finish video

Thanks @usielperez13 for capturing this #flystyle moment… I got a little excited! @oiselle @skechersperformancecanada @smithoptics @skechersperformance #alwaysplay #Repost @usielperez13 with @repostapp ・・・ Women's Half Marathon Champion @sgollishruns Breaking Course Record @indymonumental

A video posted by sasha gollish (@sgollishruns) on Nov 5, 2016 at 9:22am PDT